Links

Pages

Friday, September 07, 2007

A Very Wet August Worldwide :

Moving away from the subcontinent weather, here is an interesting summary of the very wet and to an extent, destructive August we had globally this year. A datewise report from the corners of the world shows how the weather has been (and how much we were aware of):

For the month of August 2007:

1stTropical Storm Chantal was responsible for heavy rain and extensive flooding in the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland. The worst flooding occurred in the southern areas of the Peninsula where many houses were flooded.

3rd-5thSevere thunderstorms struck Myanmar resulting in two deaths and many other injuries. The storms spawned a strong tornado that was responsible for two deaths and the destruction of 160 houses. Heavy rain triggered flash flooding which affected about 800 families and flooding many homes.

7thDuring the first week of August, areas across China suffered from heavy rain which triggered flash floods that killed 78 people and left 18 others missing

7thAt least 14 people have been killed and 7000 forced to leave their homes by flash floods in central Nigeria. Flooding caused by days of heavy rain has also driven thousands of families from their homes in Lagos.7thIn Vietnam, flooding triggered by Tropical Storm 06W killed at least 70 people in central Vietnam and affected thousands more. According to reports, more than 48,000 homes and 65,700 hectares of agricultural land were submerged under water.

9thThree people were killed, 17 injured and 13 were reported missing in the Philippines yesterday after Tropical Storm Wutip caused floods and landslides. Tropical storm Pabuk was the first to hit the islands earlier in the week and was shortly followed by Wutip which churned across the country's Northern provinces early on Wednesday morning.9thThe rain which fell on parts of Switzerland this week was the heaviest in a century. In the Jura, 150mm fell in 72 hours - as much as normally falls during the entire month of August. Zurich, received its largest daily rainfall amount in 100 years.

10thNearly 100 people have drowned and 335 injured in floods in Sudan over the last four weeks, caused when rivers burst their banks. Some 60 000 houses have been damaged or destroyed and 500,000 people affected. .12th-20thTyphoon Sepat developed as a depression in the western Pacific Ocean on the 12th, reaching typhoon intensity on the 14th.

13th-22ndHurricane Dean developed in the Atlantic Ocean, west-southwest of Cape Verde, as a tropical depression on the 13th. Dean moved towards the Caribbean sea and by the 16th it reached hurricane intensity. On the 17th, Dean entered the Caribbean Sea through the St. Lucia Channel as a Category 2 hurricane.

17thAccording to a United Nations report, floods and landslides in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea have killed at least 83 people and 60 are missing

14th-19thTropical Storm Erin developed as a depression in the Gulf of Mexico on the 14th, reaching tropical storm intensity on the 15th. On the 16th, Erin made landfall near Lamar, Texas with maximum sustained winds of 35kn. Erin downgraded to a depression but dropped moderate to heavy precipitation in its path. By the 19th, Later that same day, Erin dissipated over northeastern Oklahoma. About 250mm of rain fell across Houston and San Antonio, Texas, as well as in parts of central Oklahoma, as a result of Erin.In Wisconsin up to 300mm of rain fell in some parts triggering mudslides.

19th Parts of Australia have been lashed by severe storms that have disrupted areas such as Sydney; parts of Sydney's north shore received more than 120mm of rain.

19th-27thIn the United States, thunderstorms brought heavy rain across parts of the Midwest prompting widespread flooding which forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes

22ndAt least eight people have died after a heavy storm swept across parts of Poland; winds gusted at almost 120km/h through the Mazury lake district

23rdTransport in Finland has been disrupted after a thunderstorm damaged the rail network; safety devices on the Helsinki-Turku line were damaged by the storm, leading to train services being delayed.

23rd-26thMore than 300mm of rain has been recorded in the north-eastern part of Queensland (Australia), forcing many residents to evacuate their homes.

25thApproximately 50,000 people have been displaced by the recent flooding in Uganda. Six districts had been lashed by unusually high levels of rainfall for the last month before the flooding hit.